This is a character-led supernatural sequel combining a recovery mission with coven conflict, witch-hunter danger and queer community. Its emotional centre is Sideways’s struggle to function while feeling incomplete.
Sideways’s coven remains central, but her independent pursuit of Madeline stresses the group and leads to a painful argument and temporary fallout.FavourableFavourable: the book presents this theme approvingly or positively.Favourable: the book presents this theme approvingly or positively.
How the book presents it: The relationships are portrayed as fiercely loving while still allowing anger, hurt and disagreement.
Talk about: What helps the friends remain connected when love does not prevent them from causing harm?
Queer identity and belonging
The story follows a lesbian witch and includes queer and gender-related characters, with a new storyline about gender and a queer person leaving a hostile family culture.FavourableFavourable: the book presents this theme approvingly or positively.Favourable: the book presents this theme approvingly or positively.
How the book presents it: Queerness and community are treated compassionately, while the story acknowledges difficult, unsettled positions within queer life.
Talk about: How does belonging change when identity, history and community do not fit neatly together?
Leaving a hateful ideology
Chantry children are raised to hate witches and purify them; one deviates from those norms, but leaving does not erase learned beliefs or the harm caused.Exploratory / explanatoryExploratory / explanatory: the book explains or explores the subject without an established evaluative position.Exploratory / explanatory: the book explains or explores the subject without an established evaluative position.
How the book presents it: The treatment is described as empathetic but complication-aware, holding compassion alongside the injured characters’ reluctance to forgive.
Talk about: If someone leaves a harmful group, what responsibilities remain towards people they have hurt?
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Why It May Be Worth Reading
It may appeal to readers seeking intense queer representation, inventive witchcraft and chosen-family bonds, especially where friendships are loving but strained rather than effortlessly supportive.
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What Deserves Attention
Pay attention to the combination of supernatural peril and distress.
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A Conversation Worth Having
How might a reader understand the book’s treatment of leaving a hateful group when harm, accountability and compassion pull in different directions—and what would repair require from those involved?
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Reading Approach
Read the first Scapegracers book beforehand if possible: this sequel explains some backstory, but assumes earlier witch-worldbuilding. Allow space to discuss friendship rupture, identity, prejudice and unresolved future consequences.
Confidence & Basis
Theme indicators describe how the book presents a topic; they are not a verdict on the whole book or your family's values. Confidence reflects how much book-specific material was checked. Only part of the book information was available, so some details remain unconfirmed.
What remains unconfirmed
Chosen family and friendship: The ending’s resolution of these relationships is not fully described.
Queer identity and belonging: Some details of this treatment remain unclear.
Leaving a hateful ideology: The eventual outcome for the ally Chantry and the wider family conflict remains unclear.
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